Friday, December 31, 2010

Shire Cafe - revisit

Shire Cafe is a charming little spot, in the hip and happening Fitzroy, but a little bit off the mainstream beaten track. The charming, cafe has tucked itself neatly between two tall walls of eye-searing fluro pink and green graffiti (easy way to find it) on a side street not too far from Brunswick.

I had visited Shire Cafe earlier this year in April, but had not had the time to revisit it and check it out.

It's run by a lovely Bangladeshi man and Vietnamese woman, which I think helps to explain the odd mix of things you find on the menu. Everything from all day breakkies (eggs, corn fritters, gluten free pancakes (extra excited for this one!)), a variety of wraps, soups, curries, vietnamese style salads, burgers and of course dessert.

Last time I came, the chai latte was excellent, with gorgeously frothed milk and just enough honey to satisfy my sweet tooth. This time, the milk was a little bit overdone and with a tad overdose of honey. Whilst I do have a penchant for sweets, this was a little bit of an overkill.

Having such a big menu can make it difficult to decide what to eat sometimes, I must've sat there and 'uhm-ed' and 'aah-ed' for ages, tossing up between the gluten free pancakes and well...lunch.

I decided on the latter, saving the pancakes for a breakfast outing another time. Instead, I ordered the 'naked' burger, a massive burger patty served on a bed of fries, with cheese, lettuce and tomato. Seriously, this guy was huge. Take a look at this cross section...

That must be like an inch thick! It was definitely a good feed, with that much meat and the fries to go with it, the patty was pretty tasty overall and was lovely with the cheese, although I question the parsley garnish a bit....

And if you thought my burger was big, take a look at Brad's....it's a beast! I think this was just the Shire beef burger, or something along those lines. In essence, a burger with all the trimmings. Plus fries. We always thought Grill'd burgers were quite formidable, but this was really something else. It really wasn't much different to my burger in taste, and amazingly, Brad polished off the lot (how does he stay so thin?). Although I did pick on his chips, which were very well cooked, light and crispy. Mmmm.

We both enjoyed our meals, although in comparison, I would have to still say that Grill'd probably do their burgers better, the patty itself has better seasoning. Shire burgers were all beef and not too much flavouring within the patty, although I did like the little bit of crunch within from the onions I think. But if you do want value for money and a hell of a feed, Shire is certainly not a bad option either.